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PinSound RocketCPU - Unboxing and Install

Cary Hardy·video·18m 38s·analyzed·Mar 17, 2022
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

PinSound releases Rocket CPU replacement board for WPC89 pinball machines

Summary

Cary Hardy unboxes and installs PinSound's new Rocket CPU, a replacement MPU board for WPC89 games that addresses battery degradation issues common in vintage machines. The board offers multiple configuration options ($180 base to $300 fully loaded) and includes tools for chip swapping, built-in reset protection, and improved battery longevity. Installation is straightforward and Doctor Who boots successfully after installation.

Key Claims

  • Rocket CPU is available for WPC89 games only currently, with plans for other generations

    high confidence · Cary Hardy stated at beginning: 'WPC89 is currently the only model available, but as you can see, they must have plans to get the others.'

  • Base Rocket CPU board costs $180 USD, ASIC chip costs $100, fully loaded 'Ready to Play Edition' costs $300

    high confidence · Cary Hardy: 'the majority of the time, the main issue is batteries will leak down... so more than likely you're just going to need the board itself which is i think 180 dollars and the board ready to go with everything on it you're looking at 300 dollars'

  • CR2032 battery in Rocket CPU lasts at least 5 years vs. traditional AA batteries

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy: 'These batteries right here typically they're going to last you at least five years. So this is definitely a lot better option than your AA batteries that you had before.'

  • Board includes built-in reset protection, eliminating need for external reset bypass module

    high confidence · Cary Hardy: 'you now have a built-in no more reset. There has been in the past and still currently a little board that you can buy that plugs into your MPU that basically keeps it from resetting.'

  • ASIC chip failures are rare; socket cracks are more common failure point

    medium confidence · Cary Hardy: 'I think the only time i've ever had an issue with the asic chip is not so much the chip it's actually the socket i've seen cracks within the socket itself not being able to make a good connection.'

  • PinSound will have stock available at Texas Pinball Festival

    high confidence · Cary Hardy: 'The Pin Sound Brothers will be coming to Texas Pinball Festival, so by all means, this would be a good time to buy it.'

Notable Quotes

  • “One of the best ways to win me over in this hobby is to show me something that gives others the ability to keep their games going for years to come.”

    Cary Hardy@ 0:18 — Sets up the value proposition of the Rocket CPU product — longevity and accessibility for restoration

  • “This is a $100 chip, guys. This thing is almost as expensive as the board itself.”

    Cary Hardy@ 6:01 — Emphasizes the significant cost of the ASIC chip component and explains why most users only need the $180 base board

  • “Chances are your asic chip is still good to go and your actual game rom chip is still good to go so more than likely you're just going to need the board itself”

    Cary Hardy@ 6:16 — Explains that battery damage is the primary issue, not chip failure, making the base board sufficient for most installations

  • “Install was incredibly easy. You saw it pretty much in real time.”

    Cary Hardy@ 17:06 — Confirms the installation process is accessible to enthusiasts without advanced technical skills

Entities

Cary HardypersonPinSoundcompanyRocket CPUproductDoctor WhogameWilliamscompanyTexas Pinball FestivaleventBlack RosegameCreature from the Black Lagoon

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: PinSound demonstrating commitment to restoration ecosystem through sponsorship of content creators and direct engagement at collector events

    high · Cary Hardy: 'I obviously want to thank Pinsound for sponsoring this video' and 'The Pin Sound Brothers will be coming to Texas Pinball Festival'

  • $

    market_signal: Competitive pricing of Rocket CPU ($180 base) positioned directly against existing OEM replacement boards, with clear cost breakdown showing ASIC chip as primary driver of total system cost

    high · Cary Hardy: 'I have gone through multiple websites and they have got this card priced accordingly it is right there in the sweet spot of 180 dollars because a majority of the people selling this type of card are looking at at least 200 bucks'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Rocket CPU addresses known WPC89 reliability issues through improved battery solution (CR2032 vs. AA), built-in reset protection, and optional NVRAM, making restoration more accessible

    high · Board features: 'you're no longer going to have AA batteries keeping your high scores and settings. You now have the CR2032 battery' and 'you now have a built-in no more reset'

  • ?

    technology_signal: PinSound expanding beyond sound boards and DMD controllers to offer replacement CPU boards, diversifying their product line for complete pinball restoration solutions

    high · Cary Hardy: 'They provide sound boards, dot matrix controller boards, but now they are providing CPUs.' and hints of future expansion for other WPC generations

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.056

0:00
This is Project Command. Stand by for power transfer. Minus X minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One of the best ways to win me over in this hobby is to show me something that gives others the ability to keep their games going for years to come. Hensound just gave me another reason to love them. They provide sound boards, dot matrix controller boards, but now they are providing CPUs. WPC89 is currently the only model available, but as you can see, they must have plans to get the others. So stay tuned for that guys. Inside you will find a few extra items. A thank you card, an inspection quality card, your apron card, and some candy from France that is honestly pretty dang good. Here is the PLCC extractor tool that will come in handy soon, an extra CR2032 battery, and a ROM removing pry bar, and of course the instructions. This will be good to hold on to if you need help setting up dip switch settings. Then you have this beauty, the Rocket CPU. I specified later in the video that this is the Ready to Play Edition. Like other products I have held in my hands from Pensound, this Rocket CPU has the same outstanding quality of materials. Not to mention, I love the color. This board will work for the following games. Black Rose, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Demolition Man, Doctor Who, Dracula, Fishtails, Funhouse, Getaway, Gilligan's Island, Harley Davidson, Hurricane, Indiana Jones the Pinball Adventure, Judge Dredd, Party Zone, Popeye Saves the Earth, Star Trek The Next Generation, Terminator 2, The Addams Family, Bride of Pinbot, The Machine, Twilight Zone, and Whitewater. I will be installing this board into my next restoration machine, Doctor Who. Okay, I think we've all been there before when it comes to buying a new game.
2:32
You're like, alright, let's take a look at the insides as you're talking to the seller, you know, and like, gotta make sure that the boards are all intact, that we don't have any problems. then you open it up and you take a look. Luckily this board is completely intact with no problems but let's say for instance I was to open this up and the board had heavy battery damage or the board was completely missing. You've got a couple of options and I'm going to show you a pretty good option and that is using the Pensound's new Rocket CPU. So what we're going to do we're going to pull this board out and pretend like the reason why we're replacing it is because of battery damage, which is going to be your most common issue this day and age with games that have been neglected. So let's get this board out. All we're going to need is a Phillips head screwdriver. Let's disconnect all of our cables down here. ribbon cable wiggle that out and then we got our two ribbon cables up top so now Now we're disconnected. Loosen up the Phillips screws. Do not need to take them all the way out because if you loosen them up enough, we should be just slide this thing out. Alright, now they're all loosened up, should be able to lift up and come right out of there.
game
Demolition Mangame
Funhousegame
Indiana Jones the Pinball Adventuregame
Terminator 2game
The Addams Familygame
Twilight Zonegame
Whitewatergame
4:37
There we go All right so here is a side comparison between your standard OEM board and the Rocket CPU. Now they provide a couple of tools inside the package for you. This is going to be a very useful tool. Now something to take note of is the fact that on your new board the main feature is that you're no longer going to have AA batteries keeping your high scores and settings. You now have the CR2032 battery. You also have the option for NVRAM if you were to purchase that chip separately. It does not come with NVRAM but it is right here in case you need it. You also have your dip switch settings right here in case that you do install it. There is a certain dip switch setting that you need to have when you do install this. But this is how the board comes like this. But this is the board ordered if it's ready to go. You have a couple of different options. You can have the board, just the basic board, without your ROM and without the ASIC chip right here. This is the Mac Daddy chip. This thing is $100, guys. This is a $100 chip. This thing is almost as expensive as the board itself. So, like I said earlier, the majority of the time, the main issue is batteries will leak down and mess up everything down below. so chances are your asic chip is still good to go and your actual game rom chip is still good to go so more than likely you're just going to need the board itself which is i think 180 dollars and the board ready to go with everything on it you're looking at 300 dollars this one they uh provided me with a getaway high speed chip i'm not putting this in my getaway game because I've already got a new board in there so I don't need to replace it with this one but they gave me I guess the most recent code for said game but you can specify what game you want and they will provide it like this so I'm using Doctor Who so I'm gonna need to swap out these two chips I don't need to swap out these two chips because this board has it already this is the board it has everything ready to go but let's say for instance you needed to take if you bought just a regular board and you need to remove this ASIC chip and the ROM chip what would you go about doing that's where this handy-dandy tool right here comes into play you'll notice that you have this area and this area right there all you have to do is bring those inside and squeeze may require two hands guys I'm trying to get a good visual for you there we go and that chip has been removed now of course you want to make sure you get the orientation correctly whenever you put it into your new game or your new board I should say so when it comes to putting it into the game make sure you have the orientation correct and you can literally just snap into place just like that so once again removal just like that now let's say you needed to move your ROMs like this right here now this chip removal can also be used I it's very situational I mean I could try but I don like the way this is positioned I don like to use that this tool this is the most common one I prefer to use because it slide this is this also what comes with the guys This one right here comes with it So what I want to do slide it up underneath this and just pry up a little bit Go to the other side. Let me get this board out of the way.
9:49
Get up underneath there, pry up a little bit. I usually sometimes even do a little a twist. You don't want to pry it too much on one side.
10:16
Sweet. Now the pins are bent and that chip has been removed. So those are the only two chips that you're going to need to actually swap out if you've got the board without everything. So just your main ASIC chip and your ROM chip are the only two that you're going to need to remove. So let's say we've done that. Let's get rid of the old board. So then I would make sure my orientation is correct, pop in my new ASIC chip like I showed you earlier. Now I don't need the high speed getaway one, so let's get that removed and out of the way. Alright, getaways removed. When installing your new chip, you want to make sure that all your pins are in the sockets. Give it a good look over before you go pushing down on it. it from both sides of the chip and then push down evenly. Alright, then look around the chip to make sure you don't have any of the pins sticking out. That looks good. So, technically this board is ready to be installed. Some other noteworthy features that I need to mention before I forget is that you now have a built-in no more reset. There has been in the past and still currently a little board that you can buy that plugs into your MPU that basically keeps it from resetting. It's a common WPC issue. It's an underlying issue, but that little board is basically a cheat in order to bypass that issue. You also have the option for an external battery if you do not want to use this. So you can actually hook up right here and have a remote battery if you so want to. These batteries right here typically they're going to last you at least five years. So this is definitely a lot better option than your AA batteries that you had before. Alright, so let's get this installed back into Doctor Who and make sure it works. Alright, so let's get this baby back installed. You may have to finagle your way around all the wires and connectors that are in the way, you guys. But once you do, it should just slide right into place. It looks like I missed a couple of screws down there. There we go. All my Phillips screws are in place. So then all I got to do is tighten them back up. Doesn't require much tension guys. So now we're done with our Phillips. Now it's just a matter of connecting everything back where it goes. So I'd start from the top of the board and work your way around.
13:55
Alright Just going to verify that everything is plugged in Alright let go ahead and get this back in so that way we know that we got a working display. Now chances are we're going to have a dot error for date and time not set. find out got some nice little glowing green line up here bookkeeping and factory settings restored let me move my camera back so I can open the coin door My goodness, that is loud. Date and time not set.
14:53
And that is it. Let's turn the volume down for one thing. Alright, that's a little better. so date and time not set we can go in there and uh get that set real quick all right date and time are now set all right so let's get a close-up now of this board when it's all powered on because i just noticed that we've got some cool leds going here now they didn't have to but they've got like a nice little green led behind the rocket on this one so and you get your little nice little green glow coming from behind the board as well there you go and that is pensound's rocket cpu for wpc 89 as i stated in the video the base model for this card is 180 bucks us dollars and i have done the pricing guys i have gone through multiple websites and they have got this card priced accordingly it is right there in the sweet spot of 180 dollars because a majority of the people selling this type of card are looking at at least 200 bucks and that comes without of course your asic chip this little bitty chip right here this little williams asic chip that's a hundred dollars for this darn thing i think the cheapest i've seen it for was 85 and that's not including shipping so that is the main cost and like i said this is a rarity to go bad i think the only time i've ever had an issue with the asic chip is not so much the chip it's actually the socket i've seen cracks within the socket itself not being able to make a good connection. So the chances are you're only going to need the base board. Unless you're missing the board then you're going to probably want to go ahead and get the whole $300 ready to play edition. Install was incredibly easy. You saw it pretty much in real time. I've sped things up just to make the video shorter. I obviously want to thank Pinsound for sponsoring this video and sending me this card so that way I can show all of you out there, what it can do, how to install it, and if this is a thing that you need for your games. The Pin Sound Brothers will be coming to Texas Pinball Festival, so by all means, this would be a good time to buy it. I don't know how many of this card will be available at the show, but I'm pretty sure they're definitely going to have a stock available for purchase. If you feel like this product is something you need, I have links in the description down below. by all means check them out. What is your thoughts about this rocket CPU for WPC89? Let me know in the comments down below. If you like what you've seen here and maybe even learn something give me the thumbs up, smash that subscribe button, ding my dong that way you can be notified of whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. And until next time guys, peace out.
18:20
Thank you.